Reviews of what I'm reading. Mostly in the Horror genre, but you never know.

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Led Astray - by Kelley Armstrong - Every story in the collection hits the mark

5 of 5 stars Review copy

Kelley Armstrong is a New York Times bestselling author. Her first novel Bitten was turned into a TV series which just completed its second season on the SYFY channel.

In Led Astray, you’ll discover stories with new characters from within and outside Armstrong’s popular novels. Here you will find two original tales from Cainsville, plus journeys to and beyond the worlds of Darkest Powers, Age of Legends, Otherworld, and more.

To be perfectly honest, prior to getting a copy of Led Astray through NetGalley, I had never read more than a couple of Kelley's stories, which may have appeared in an anthology or two along the way. Thanks to this collection, I am definitely a fan and am looking forward to reading much more of her work.

Here we have twenty-one short stories and two that are more novella length stories. Most are tales that have appeared elsewhere, but two are completely new to this collection, including the novella, "Devil May Care", which closes out the book.

In nearly every collection I've ever read, there are one or two stories that are just not as good as the others. That is simply not the case for Led Astray. Every piece was well-imagined and richly entertaining. Every last one.

With so many stories in the collection, I'd rather not list them all. How about I give you a peek at three of my favorites.

"A Haunted House of Her Own" - Tanya and Nathan are looking to purchase a B & B. hopefully one that comes with ghost stories attached. Be careful what you wish for. Look for more than one twist in this wonderful little ghost story.

"Last Stand" - Kelley's take on Zombies with one of the best explanations ever for the walking dead.

"V Plates - A totally fun story of what happens when a young werewolf visits a brothel in an attempt to lose his virginity.

I was actually disappointed when I got to the last of the 434 pages in this book. Led Astray: The Best of Kelley Armstrong is available now in both paperback and e-book formats from Tachyon Publications.